


That's What Family's For

by OnlyRoomForHope



Series: We're a Family [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Chara (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Chara is a little bitch, Everyone Needs A Hug, Flowey is a platonic tsundere, Fluff and Angst, Frisk (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Male Chara (Undertale), Nice Flowey (Undertale), Night Terrors, Nightmares, No More Resets (Undertale), Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Pacifist Frisk (Undertale), Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Soft Flowey (Undertale), Tsundere Flowey (Undertale), Well - Freeform, chara needs help, more like, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 16:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21394918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyRoomForHope/pseuds/OnlyRoomForHope
Summary: Frisk's been losing sleep due to numerous nightmares and terrors, but they refuse to open up when approached about it.However, when the most unlikely person approaches Frisk after a nightmare, what ensues is a, well, not exactly a friendship, but a bond that runs much deeper than either side anticipated.[Genderfluid & mute Frisk, male Chara, and some soft Flowey. What else could this fandom possibly need?Honestly writng Flowey felt as if I was writing a Tsundere talking to their crush. "I-It's not like I l-like you or anything, baka!" except less romantic and more platonic. Flowey is a platonic tsundere.]
Relationships: Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Flowey & Frisk (Undertale), Frisk & Papyrus (Undertale)
Series: We're a Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542442
Kudos: 30





	1. A Terrifying Nightmare

  
Sleep sounded like a dream at this point. Comfortable, dreamless sleep sounded like a myth. Good dreams sounded like bad joke. Frisk would be lucky if they got a mere hour of sleep these days.

Tossing and turning, trying to keep their eyes open despite how many times they'd slipped shut of their own free will, they sighed, resigning themselves to their fate. Their stopped fighting as their eyes slipped shut, breathing evened out and they fell into a restless sleep.  
  


~~~  
  


_The horror was almost instant. As soon as Frisk slipped off, they were met with utter chaos. A barren land, the ground black and the sky dyed various shades red - none of them kind -, sun nowhere in sight. Fire flickered in the distance, screams and cries full to the brim with utter pain and desolation that Frisk felt the sheer hopelessness in their own heart._

_The child stood there, waiting for death to appear to do what happened every time they fell asleep. They waited for the subject of their nightmares to appear and torture them again, putting them through their worst fears with no break and no way out._

_As if hearing their despair, he appeared._

_"Ah, Frisk, you're back. I was wondering when you'd return," came a silky male voice from behind them, "I missed playing with you :)."_

_Frisk slowly turned around, head lowered. 'Please, Chara, leave m-' they began to sign before their rapid hand movements were interrupted by iron shackles that bound her only means of "verbal" communication behind their back, a sadistic smirk playing on the lips of the man in front of them. _

_"Stop? Now where's the fun in that?" He asked innocently, finger on his lip as he blinked at Frisk with wide eyes. "I already told you the conditions of your freedom. Reset, and I'll leave you alone." _

_Frisk gulped and shook their head._

_"Oh well, your loss!" Chara cried before the already terrifying scenery changed. The ground was no longer black, no, it was _ ** _red._ ** _ It wasn't naturally red, either. The sky was still red but it was darker, some sort of a crescent moon up in the sky, a major difference between the real moon and this being that this "moon" was black - as black as the void. Frisk whimpered. _

_"Scared already, Frisk? But I haven't done anything yet!" Chara giggled, leaning closer as he bopped Frisk's nose with his finger. "You're so adorable."_

_When Frisk stumbled backwards in disgust, the green-sweater clad child just shrugged, expecting nothing less. "So, what'll it be today?" _

_The male seemed to be listening out for a response that would never come. "Maybe I'll leave you be?" _

_Frisk nodded as quickly as they could, a tiny spark of hope shining in their eyes. Chara grinned. That light had no right to be there; after all, Chara's had stopped shining like that years ago._

_"Hm, no response. Frisk, I didn't expect you to _ ** _want_ ** _ to stay, but you're not telling me yes!" He smirked, head tilted to the side. "Well, if you insist on staying silent, I must assume that you don't want me to leave you alone!" _

_The sheer emptiness and hatred in Frisk's eyes had the green-clad child beaming. A feeling in their cold, stone heart. A feeling, that while it might not be a positive one, it was _ ** _there_ ** _, and that's all Chara could ask for._

_"Well, if you insist on staying, I wonder what we should do today! Maybe we could pay a visit to Toriel? Sans? Mettaton?"_

_Frisk shook with fear. _

_"Hm, maybe Alphys? Oh, wait, we haven't done Papyrus in a while, have we?" _

_Chara delighted in the way Frisk paled and shook even harder. He knew they hated seeing Papyrus die, which is why it was a death they saw less of. After all, he couldn't have them getting _ ** _used_ ** _ to seeing them dying, could be?_

_Mind made up, Chara began preparing. Frisk waited in silence, in no way ready for what was to come. Papyrus had to be one of their best friends out of everyone. He tried his best, even if it didn't always turn out, and he was always so optimistic, expressive and truthful. Frisk could admire that about the tall skeleton. He always looked on the bright side of things. Of course, they hated seeing Sans and Toriel die, but they knew deep down that those two could protect themselves. While Frisk had no doubt that Papyrus could too, Frisk wasn't sure that he _ ** _would._ ** _ He'd probably just ask for a hug while he was on his deathbed or something else insanely trusting or stupid like that._

_"SMALL HUMAN, I COME WITH SPAGHETTI!" _

_Frisk ducked their head and Chara grinned. It had begun. _

_The skeleton in the super-duper awesome outfit came to a stop in front of the two children, completely disregarding the green one and focusing his attention on the purple one in front of him. "ARE YOU HUNGRY, HUMAN?" _

_Frisk shook their head, a tear rolling down their cheek. _

_"Aw, crying already? You're adorable, Frisk - it hasn't even begun!" Chara cackled, and as by magic, dream-Papyrus was captured in the same iron shackles Frisk was and strung up in front of the pair, gasping in shock and pain. _

_"W-WHAT? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT, INVISIBLE FOE!"_

_ "Hey, Frisk, you could save him if you just _ ** _reset_ ** _, you know? You don't have to watch him suffer and he doesn't have to go through all this pain!" _

_Frisk shook their head, tears dripping faster but resolute in their answer._

_Chara sighed. "What a pity. I hate to do this, but..."_

_Papyrus screaming out in pain, his forearm snapping, then snapping again. Black sludge dripped down his bones from his eye sockets as he struggled, trying to get away._

_"You're gonna reset. Undo all of their efforts because you're so _ ** _selfish._ ** _ Their true happy ending will go to waste, but...that doesn't matter, does it? They won't remember, anyway." Chara giggled, a smile stretched wide on his face, grotesquely distorted with insanity._

_Frisk tried to refuse, but they'd never cursed their muteness more than in that moment._

_"HUMAN! HUMAN, HELP ME! IT HURTS, MAKE IT STOP!"_

_"Haha, you know I'm right. You're getting bored, I can feel it. One day, you'll do it. I'm gonna _ ** _make you if I have to!_ ** _ Ahahaha!"_

_"HUMAN...IT HURTS..."_

_Frisk risked glancing up and promptly leaned to the side and vomited. Papyrus was a mess of black sludge and snapped bones at this point, his signature scarf hanging on by barely a thread. His pupils locked onto Frisks as they looked back up despite their mind's protests and they were filled with so much pain and hopelessness and despair that Frisk swore they were made up of those three emotions._

_"HUMAN...IT'S OKAY, I UNDERSTAND. Y-" Dream-Papyrus paused to cough, black sludge flying out of his mouth despite not owning lungs. Or blood. "YOU CAN'T HELP ME."_

_Frisk was noisily gasping for air, tears dripping faster and snot running from their nose._

_"I BELIEVE IN YOU, HUMAN."_

_At those words, Papyrus turned to dust, and Frisk broke._

_Chara observed in twisted glee. Maybe he couldn't feel positive emotions any more, but negative emotions existed too. And he'd just had his fix. Perks of being able to torture someone so expressive. An upside is finally getting them to reset and watching Frisk wallow in the pain and horror of what they'd done._

_"You know you'll do it, Frisk. You know you'll _ ** _reset_ ** _. No one will remember a thing! Don't worry, it's not too hard. Just press the button and it'll all be over. All these nightmares and all this pain."_

_Chara grinned, beginning to glitch as the same black sludge that seeped from Papyrus' sockets began to leak from their eyes as if they were crying._

_"Until next time, Frisk."_

And just like that, Frisk awoke, promptly curling into a ball on their bed and crying.


	2. An Unlikely Confidant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not edited or formatted correctly. Oops?

  
Frisk was curled under their sheets, but they were not asleep. They rarely were, these days. They knew and they wanted to wanted to tell their friends what was going on, they really did, but they couldn't brings themselves to. Sans was the perfect candidate to tell. He knew about resets, he knew about everything, but Frisk couldn't rid the thought that he'd be angry at them for something they couldn't control, even though they knew the irrationality of it.

Slipping out of their blankets, Frisk's feet padded in the wooden floors, on their tiptoes to try avoid freezing their feet more than they had to. Slipping on a purple and blue robe patterned exactly like their favorite jumper (a gift from Mettaton) and worn magenta slippers, the child snuck downstairs and out of the house, quietly opening the door and closing it as lightly as they could behind them.

Frisk walked for a bit before they reached their favorite spot. The cliff overhanging the sunset, the first sight of the sun they'd seen when leaving the underground.

Sitting down after taking their slippers off so the shoes didn't take a plunge off the cliff face, Frisk stared out at the night sky, debating everything. They wouldn't reset. They _couldn't_ reset. They couldn't spoil everything they'd - all of them - had worked so hard for. There's no way in heaven or hell they would.

Chara thought otherwise.

Frisk had no idea why Chara was trying so hard to ruin everything, but they knew he was getting desperate. They had no idea what he was going to do next, and it scared them. It scared them more than facing the monsters Underground did. It scared them more than _anything_, but Frisk held on. Chara was _not_ going to ruin their happy ending. Humans had just accepted the monsters, and while anti-monster groups still existed, they were few, as most people accepted that the monsters were back for good.

"Look who it is. It's the Ambassador." A high-pitched voice interrupted their train of thought. Turning around, Frisk saw someone they certainly didn't expect to see.

"Howdy, it's me. Your friendly neighborhood Flowey! Although, you knew that already," the flower grinned, face distorting as a manic grin settled on his face.

Frisk sighed silently, turning away from the flower that had tried to destroy them all. Sure, he was forgiven, but that doesn't mean what he'd done was forgotten. If he was back to share some other evil plan, Frisk was just going to block him out. They weren't in the mood.

It was silent for a few moments. Flowey was left wondering why Frisk had reacted the way they did, and Frisk was left to wonder why Flowey was there. Finally, Frisk replied.

_'Yes, Flowey?'_ They signed, face unreadable. Flowey frowned.

"Frisk, what the hell's gotten into you? You know everyone is worried, right?" The flower said, before scoffing. "Well, apart from me, of course. I don't care."

Frisk didn't reply, just let their head drop forward and their shoulders bunch up to their ears. Flower sneered.

"So pathetic. If you can't even bring yourself to tell your 'friends' about your problems, how do you expect them to trust you?"

Frisk again said nothing.

"Wow, you're not even gonna say something in defense, eh? Humans really are pathetic."

Nothing. No reply. No sign that Frisk had even heard what Flowey had said.

"Listen to me, damnit! You're such a disappointment! How do you even live with yourself!?"

Frisk raised their hands.  
_'I know I'm a disappointment.'_

With a start, Flowey realized what they had said. "No, I meant- agh!" A high pitched scream of frustration later, Flowey slumped over. "Fine. If you're not gonna rant to your dumb 'friends', rant to me. It physically hurts to see you all moping around, avoiding each other. Gah."

Frisk was silent for a moment before they turned around, looking straight at Flowey.

Now that they thought about it, it wasn't Sans that would be the best person to tell about their predicament, it was Flowey- well, Asriel. Frisk bit their lip as their fingers began moving.

_'I have a bit of a problem.'_

"Well, no shit, Sherlock. You look like death itself." Flowey scoffed. Frisk ignored him.

_'I don't know what to do, and I need help, but no one would understand.'_

Flowey finally seemed to get it. "Are you gonna reset? Hah, finally bored of this timeline? Good for you! Just reset, it's not like they'll remember, anyway." He chucked darkly, smile twisted.

Frisk's head snapped up.  
_'No!'_ They signed, face a stormcloud of emotions. _'I'm not going ruin all of our hard work!'_

Flowey paused, face back to an innocent flower. "Then...what?"

_'Flowey, I need Asriel for a moment. Can you please, please do that for me?'_ Frisk's head lowered again, hair shielding their face.

"Wha- Asriel is gone, smarty-pants. You can't ju-"_ 'Please, Flowey.'_

The flower sighed.

"Fine. I'll try to understand and be 'empathetic'. Bleh." Flowey gagged, before straightening up, albeit reluctantly. "So, lay it on me."

Frisk hesitated a moment before they seemed gather their resolve. _'It's...Chara.'_

Flowey's eyes widened in surprise, but he said nothing, just listened.

_'Chara's been in my dreams, every single night, screaming at me to reset, that I'm getting bored, that they won't remember anything so there's no harm in doing so. But I don't want to do it. I don't want to tear them from this timeline. They're happy, _ ** _I'm happy_ ** _, and I don't want to ruin it.'_

Frisk paused as they tried to find the words.

_'But Chara won't stop. He won't _ ** _stop_ ** _, he just continues, showing me their worst fears, telling me just how _ ** _easy_ ** _ it would be to reset. Just press the button. That's it. I can't refuse, either. That's possibly one of the worst parts, that I can't say no, that I can't tell him to stop. My hands are always bound, he makes sure they are, and I feel so _ ** _helpless._ ** _ He seems to be getting desperate, and I'm so, so afraid of what he'll do to get his way.'_

Flowey was silent, staring at the troubled child who had the fate of the future on their shoulders and refused to let anyone else share the burden.

_'I don't know what to do. I want to tell my friends, I could easily tell them, but...my mind refuses. My heart refuses. I don't want to trouble them, not when they're so happy, so free. I've seen them hurt, crying, broken, but seeing them happy,' _Frisk pauses to wipe away a tear, _'I would never ruin that. I don't want to ruin that. So much of our blood has been spilt to get here, and we finally made it. It makes me so happy just to see them happy.'_

_'But that's not all. The dreams have changed recently, from showing their fears to showing my own. Every single night I go through hell and back, ending with Chara telling me to reset. I won't, I can't, but he tells me I will, as if he knows. He seems so certain, and I don't know what he has planned and it _ ** _scares_ ** _ me. It _ ** _scares me so badly,_ ** _ but I won't give in. I just...I don't know what to do.'_

Frisk had given up on trying to wipe their tears away, and instead let them drip freely, body trembling with silent sobs. Flowey was looking at the ground, deep in thought.

"I can see how that would be a problem." He finally mutters, face neutral. Frisk laughed slightly, choking on their sobs.

_'I don't know how much longer I can last, Flowey. I'm so scared just to fall asleep these days. How am I supposed to protect everyone?'_

Flowey scoffed. "Here's a thought, how about you _don't_ protect everyone. They're not helpless, as much as I hate to admit it," Flowey's head tilted forwards as he looked up at Frisk, "and they certainly don't want or need you to protect them. In fact, they're probably trying to protect you. Like when mo- err, Goat Lady didn't let you out of the Ruins because she was worried you'd get killed? When that taller skeleton tried to stop that dumb Fish-guard from killing you by asking about your clothes, although he messed it up? And when Sans, Goat Lady and all your other stupid friends stopped Goat Lady's ex from fighting you? Well, for the second time, that is. Since your dumb ass hasn't realized it yet, everyone's been trying to protect you all along. It's been so sweet it makes me sick to my non-existent stomach. So how about letting them care for you, for once, instead of dealing with all this shit alone?"

Frisk was silent, like usual, but their fingers weren't moving. Their hands lay still by their sides as they listened to Flowey's impromptu rant.

"So, just drop the act and tell them, you idiotic human. Nothing is going to get better if you don't try to make it better in the first place. Also, about Chara? There's nothing, _nothing_ he can do to physically hurt you. Mentally? Sure, but isn't that was friends are for? To support you? I mean, Chara can do jackshit to you or your mind if you don't let him do it in the first place."

There was silence for a moment before Frisk's shoulders started shaking with laughter, a tear dripping down their cheek.

"M-More crying!? How much water do humans store in their body!?" Flowey stated indecorously, before squealing as Frisk scooped him into a hug. "Gah, watch the petals! _Watch the petals!"_

As Frisk hugged Flowey, they smiled into his petals. A few moments later, Frisk pulled away.

_'Thank you, Flowey. You're the best.'_

"Of course I am. Besides, if you ever find yourself unable to sleep, now you know you have a reluctant non-shoulder to cry on. I'm here for you, I guess, although I have better things to do."

Frisk knew what the flower was trying to convey. So they wiped their eyes, sat back on their knees and turned around, legs back over the cliff.

"Although, Frisk?" Flowey's was looking at the sunrise, not at Frisk when they turned to look at him. "Promise me something. Don't ever betray your friends, okay? If that means never resetting again, then so be it."

Frisk tilted their head in the universal sign of 'what.'

"Just promise me, okay? Never betray them."

_'I promise.'_ Frisk signed, nodding at the flower. Flowey nodded at the child before both turned around to face off the cliff face again. Just in time, too, as the sun had just begun to rise.

Brilliant colors painted the sky, a picture so beautiful, so many artists and photographers had tried and failed to capture it's sheer uniqueness. Bright yellows blended with vivid oranges, soft pinks and pale blues as the night sky melted away to make room for the new day. Finally, the bright, beaming sun right smack-dab in the middle completed the picture. It was beautiful, and Frisk was happy. Flowey was happy too, although the stubborn flower would never, ever admit it.

Everything would turn out okay. It might not have been at the moment, and there might be times when it seemed like it wouldn't, but Frisk knew better. They knew everything would turn out a-okay, because they had all their friends and family with them, right by their side, forever in their heart, and they weren't gonna ever leave.

As the last of the display seemingly meant just for them melted away, Flowey turned their head to realize Frisk had fallen asleep. Smiling a little, Flowey settled down, too.

_Everything was gonna turn out okay. But if for whatever reason it didn't, they had friends that would stick forever by their side to support them, and vice versa. _

_After all, that's what family's for._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it :D  
I'm failing my class! :D
> 
> Kudos are always appreciated and comments make my day! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the second part to this before I wrote the first. oop-
> 
> So, the second part has been written for like, a year, so when I saw it I was just like "mmm y'know what, lemme get off my ass, stop working on my assignment that's due ToMoRrOw and finish this damn thing." I'm screwed :D
> 
> Anyway, it's not beta read. We die like men.
> 
> Ah, and sorry if "she/her" pronouns are used for Frisk and Chara! I'm used to both writing and reading female pronouns but I wanted to challenge myself >.<
> 
> Anyway, kudos are always appreciated and comments make my day!
> 
> [Click here to join my Discord! :D](https://discord.gg/vqCQQX5)


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